


Tis' the Season (Dude, Where's My Coffee?)

by psychosexy (dearwildflower)



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: @ keurig sponsor me, Coworkers AU, Fluff, M/M, Seungyoun's need for coffee in the mornings, but with a cute coworker, seasonal retail torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:21:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22010998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearwildflower/pseuds/psychosexy
Summary: Coming in before 9AM on freezing days was really tough and a nice cup of coffee made from a beloved Keurig would literally and figuratively warm Seungyoun's heart- but his coworkers never left him any k-cups. With a lack of coffee and a 6AM shift during the holiday season, how was Seungyoun to woo his ridiculously cute coworker and keep his sanity?
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Kim Wooseok | Wooshin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Tis' the Season (Dude, Where's My Coffee?)

**Author's Note:**

> I started a Christmas drabble challenge thing but haha never finished it haha but here's the one that featured hot chocolate ^^  
> I based this off my own experiences except for the cute coworker part :( no wooseok at my job :(  
> Happy reading? :)

“It’s fucking cold.” Seungyoun hissed, waiting for the front door of the store to be opened for him. It was a little past 6AM- he was late for his shift, okay? Whatever- and the sun had not even begun to rise. His ears were painfully throbbing from the harsh winds, cursing their dress code that did not allow employees to wear hats. He was just about to lean his head onto the glass door when one of his coworkers appeared. 

“Goddamn, it’s cold.” Seungwoo cursed, sliding the door back enough for Seungyoun to slip in. 

“Colder than a snowman’s asshole.” Seungyoun muttered. “I bet it’ll snow soon.”

“Hopefully. Then maybe this store will give us a day off.” 

Seungwoo was one of the managers but he was one of the cool ones. Most likely the youngest of them and the one who’s humor matched Seungyoun’s the best. 

“Clock in and come find me. I convinced  _ The Elders _ to let you help me in seasonal.” Seungwoo told him, referring to the older managers as  _ The Elders _ had become a running joke between them. Seungwoo was cool. 

“Okay.” 

Zig zagging through the aisles of Christmas shit and other miscellaneous items, Seungyoun headed first for the time clock to punch in and then directly to the break room to leave his jacket and phone in his locker. 

6:07AM. 

Yes. 

Time for coffee. 

Perfect, the Keurig was already on and warmed up for him. Checking the water level and then pulling a styrofoam cup from the cabinet- yes, he’s aware that it's not good for his health or the environment but please take that up with his manager- and reached for a k-cup that they conveniently kept in a small green basket next to the Keurig and-

Seungyoun’s fingers hit the bottom of the basket. 

No. 

It was  _ empty.  _

“Son of a  _ bitch. _ ”

Seriously there was an issue. How could these people drink all the k-cups and not leave ONE for him? It was getting to be very annoying coming to work early in the morning and not have some type of warm drink to wake him up. Coming in before 9AM on freezing days was really tough and a nice cup of coffee made from a beloved Keurig would literally and figuratively warm his heart. 

And yet.

Happy Monday morning blues. 

Seungyoun stomped his way to the front of the store, pitying himself for not having a warm drink to energize himself. He’d have to buy his own k-cups and store them in his locker because he could not spend the rest of that cold winter suffering like this. He just could not-

“Oh, good morning, Seungyoun.” 

That voice. 

Seungyoun comically peered from left to right until a figure emerged from behind the big cage filled with 24inch wreaths. That voice, that face. More than enough to warm Seungyoun up and turn him into a pile of soft marshmallows. 

“Over here.” Wooseok chuckled, dropping the last wreath into the cage. 

That cute laugh. Seungyoun beamed. 

“Oh hey Wooseok! You’re here, too? It’s a party!”

Perhaps he didn’t need his coffee.

“How long have you been her-”

“You’re not here to chat him up, Seungyoun. Grab a box cutter and open up these boxes before the store opens.” 

Nevermind. Seungyoun now needed  _ two  _ coffees. Perhaps with a few drops of something heavier. 

His face of happiness soured quickly as he glared at  _ The Elder _ who walked past after attacking him so early in the morning. Wooseok sheepishly smiled at him one last time mouthing  _ sorry  _ before disappearing behind the wreaths again. 

If not for Seungwoo, the most down to earth manager, and Wooseok,  _ heart eyes emoji _ , Seungyoun would really have regretted picking up this holiday job. 

“Are you just going to stand there all day, Mr. Cho?”

Seungwoo pat him on the back, a silent lament for being chewed out, and pulled him into an aisle with him. 

_ Bah humbug. _

  
  
  


The store was in full Christmas swing with long winding lines, repetitive Christmas carols and glitter just about everywhere thanks to all the winter decorations. For those reasons, Seungyoun was happy to spend more than half of his shift stocking loads of shit at the crack of dawn where there were no customers to annoy him. Unfortunately during this season there were never enough hands on deck to keep the store running so when  _ The Elders _ asked him to stay a little bit longer, preying on his need for more money, Seungyoun agreed. 

Not having had the chance to run to the store and buy himself a secret stash of k-cups yet, Seungyoun’s morning energy ran on a few crackers, thankfully he’d remembered to grab a pack, and some water. When he heard his name on the intercom next to  _ price check, register three _ he was ready to throw hands because he was all but a mere stock boy,  _ not _ a price checker. 

Either way, he dropped what he was doing and headed towards the registers. Normally, Seungyoun stayed far away from the front of the store because of the foot traffic and seeing as to how he could barely squeeze by to register three he was surely smart in doing so. 

“Hey Seungyoun! Over here! Can you get me a price, please?” 

Fortunately Seungyoun was very tall and could see that it was Wooseok who was in need of his help. For Wooseok, Seungyoun would do anything, including pushing past grumpy old people who wanted Christmas items at a discount and unruly children dragged to the store by their parents who couldn’t wait to get Christmas shopping done. 

_ I can get you anything you want! How about me?  _ was really what Seungyoun wanted to say but now was not the time to profess his love for the other boy. The least he could do was get him the price of the light up snowman that he so adorably held over his head for Seungyoun to see. 

“Okay!” He yelled back and then scurried into the aisle, dodging customers with never ending questions. 

Before Wooseok could get accosted for holding up the line, Seungyoun appeared behind him with a snowman with its tag. 

“Thank you.” Wooseok sighed, handing the snowman back to Seungyoun after scanning it. “I thought the crowd would eat me alive if I left to find the tag myself.” 

Seungyoun gave him his best charming smile. “They’d have to go through me first.” 

And then Wooseok smiled warmly at him with his big sparkly eyes and they lived happily ever after. 

Just kidding. 

The store became so busy it was almost chaotic. Seungyoun didn’t see Wooseok again that day, besides in passing, until they were both leaving and found each other in the break room. 

“Busy day, huh?” Wooseok said to him. He was too busy wrapping his big red plaid scarf around his neck to notice Seungyoun staring at him adoringly. Seungyoun was recharging his eyes from having to look at ugly Christmas gnomes and obnoxious light up decor since the morning. 

“Yeah, right?” Seungyoun replied, facing his own locker and wondering if now would be a good time to ask the smaller out. “Doesn’t help that no one has refilled the k-cup basket and I’m dying for anything warm to drink in the mornings.” He wasn’t sure why he was making small talk by airing out his coffee complaints but Wooseok didn’t seem to mind. 

“How inconsiderate of them not to stock up for you.” He retorted playfully. 

“Hey!” Seungyoun called out sulkily with an equally as playful pout. 

“I hope they don’t ask us to stay longer tomorrow. But if Seungwoo hyung is the one to ask I’ll feel obligated to say yes. He’s pretty cool.” 

“Isn’t he? I thought the same.” Seungyoun said, facing the other. He felt a surge of confidence as Wooseok tossed him a smile over his shoulder. “Hey Wooseok?” 

Wooseok turned around as he finished buttoning his peacoat-  _ god, he was cute _ \- and walked closer to Seungyoun. “Yes?”

Seungyoun gulped. Now what would he say? His eyes slipped over to the Keurig and the green little basket that was  _ still  _ empty. 

“Would you, uh, would you,” By this point Wooseok stood right in front of him. Big eyes imploring and inviting lips pursed.  _ Oh boy _ . 

“Hmm?”

“Would you want to get coffee with me? Like today? Right now? Maybe?” 

With how jittery Seungyoun was acting one would have thought he’d already had enough coffee to last him until next Christmas. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Seungyoun.” 

Oh  _ God.  _ That was definitely  _ not _ the beginning to the beautiful love story he had imagined would ensue when he finally asked Wooseok out. 

Well. Time to quit. 

“But I can’t today.” The smaller reached out and gently held Seungyoun’s forearm while still looking up at him with those eyes. 

“That’s okay!” Seungyoun blurted, jerking away from Wooseok and loudly closing his locker door. The embarrassment was eating him alive and he. Had. To. Go. He headed for the door, leaving his jacket behind because it was that dire of a situation and lifted a hand up without properly looking at the other man who was just as startled at his behavior. 

“Wait, Seungyoun-”

“Don’t worry about it! I’ll see you tomorrow!” With a sad and awkward laugh, he was out the door before Wooseok could even grab his attention again. 

  
  
  


“Ah. It’s fucking cold.” Seungyoun whispered, dragging a hand over his tired eyes. Flashes of his failed attempt with Wooseok yesterday played in his head like a movie reel and he fell forward until his head bumped into the glass door. “I can’t believe that happened.” 

He told himself that he would just ignore Wooseok for the day and if it was too bad he would just quit. Could he really afford to quit just because a really cute boy that he’d been crushing on for a few weeks rejected him? 

_ No _ . 

_ But,  _ taking care of his mind and heart and emotions and most importantly his pride was more important than money. (Seungyoun took mental health very seriously thank you very much.) 

“New jacket?” Seungwoo questioned, opening the door for Seungyoun. 

“Nah,” Seungyoun answered quietly. “I just-”  _ Left mine behind when I was running away from Wooseok who totally rejected me.  _ “Wanted to wear something different today.” 

“You look cool but I know you were freezing your ass off out there. Wear something warmer, man. You’re with me again today. Go clock in.” 

Damn Seungwoo for being such a cool manager.  _ He _ probably doesn’t get rejected in store break rooms. Seungyoun bitterly walked to the break room after clocking in, wallowing in his own pity again. He really hoped it was just him and Seungwoo working seasonal that morning. He didn’t even have the heart to check the green basket next to the Keurig. What was the point in bringing on more disappointment? He really hoped Wooseok wouldn’t-

“Seungyoun? Hi, good morning.” 

_ Fuck.  _

Clenching his teeth, Seungyoun tiredly shut his locker and put on his best  _ you-didn’t-murder-my-heart-and-soul-yesterday  _ smile. 

“Hey.” 

His greeting must have come out more forced than he thought judging by the way Wooseok grimaced. 

“Um,” Wooseok started and he seemed smaller than usual. He looked to his left and Seungyoun followed his gaze to the green basket next to the Keurig. His eyes went wide seeing it completely filled with k-cups. “You left in a hurry yesterday and I’m pretty sure you misunderstood me?” He peeked up at Seungyoun and Seungyoun felt like a hideous dumb giant. “I couldn’t get coffee yesterday because I had a dentist appointment.” 

_ Ohhh… _

Did Seungyoun dare get his hopes up, though?

“Oh.”

Wooseok chewed on his bottom lip. “I wanted to ask if we could get coffee or something today instead but you bolted. And… you mentioned there not being k-cups so I bought some… for you.” 

That’s it. They’re getting married. 

“I hope you don’t mind hot chocolate?”

Although Seungyoun knew before this moment, it was utterly more clear now that he was, in fact, a grade A  _ idiot _ . He blamed the lack of coffee all week for his mistakes. 

“If you don’t like it you don’t have to drink it. I was just-”

Wooseok’s sentence was muffled by Seungyoun’s chest as he pulled him in for a hug. He caught a whiff of his hair ( _ Pantene _ ?) as he inhaled and unconsciously leaned his head on the smaller’s. The arms that wrapped around his waist comfortably felt like heaven. 

“Thank you. I love hot chocolate.” Seungyoun said, almost mistakenly saying something else that most likely would have spooked Wooseok away. 

“Okay, good because you weren’t saying anything and I was getting nervous.” Wooseok exhaled in relief. 

“So about that coffee date.” Seungyoun wondered aloud, pulling away but not completely. His hands dragged down the smaller’s arms until he clutched his fingers in his own. 

“Yes.” Wooseok smiled. “Today I’m free.” 

Seungyoun’s heart happy danced in his chest. “Great. I’ll pick you up.” 

Wooseok pulled a hand away to cover his smile as he laughed and Seungyoun vowed to be the one to always put a smile on his beautiful face. 

“Let’s go before they come looking for us.” Wooseok said bashfully squeezing Seungyoun’s hand before letting go. 

“Wait! You said these are for me, right?” Seungyoun asked with a finger pointing at the green basket now filled with hot chocolate k-cups. Wooseok nodded. “Great. Don’t mind me then.” He said, taking the basket and dumping every last k-cup into his locker as Wooseok watched him in amusement. 

Now there was no need for Seungyoun to run to the store and buy any. He had his own secret stash, and a Wooseok to share them with. 


End file.
